Ever the fashion bellwether, Parker is right in step with spring's heel reduction. A fresh crop of '50s and '60s-inspired pumps carry their weight on a trusty 1- or 2-inch heel, often stocky or kitten-heeled with a single sole, no platform.

A backlash of sorts to soles the size of monster truck tires, low-profile pumps are shaping up to be the height of chic this spring.

"Those platforms have been starting to feel vulgar to me for a while," said Stacy London, co-founder of Style for Hire (styleforhire.com), author of "The Truth About Style" and co-host of "What Not To Wear" on TLC. "I'm seeing a push away from that stripper heel. It's about something much more ladylike, pointy toes, curved heels, more delicate."

Kitten heels channel Audrey Hepburn. Block heels with square toes evoke the mod era celebrated by the Austin Powers movies. Some should be styled with extreme caution lest you inadvertently resemble Queen Elizabeth instead of the duchess formerly known as Kate Middleton.

"There's a lot of heaviness at the foot for spring," said Sharon Graubard, fashion director at Stylesight, a firm that provides fashion trend analysis. "If you're going to wear a leggy look with a short skirt, you don't want to wear spike heels. It balances it to have a heavier foot."

No matter how pert the skirt, if you simply can't shake the Dowager Countess associations with this kindly heel, a wedge is an equally hospitable and fresh alternative this spring, London suggests.

A 19-year-old Portsmouth woman is facing multiple charges following a police pursuit that ended in Newport News over the weekend and involved two children reported missing in Chesapeake, an official said.

Somebody decided to get cute on Twitter during the recent snow, creating an account in the name of Hampton City Schools Superintendent Linda Shifflette and announcing that schools were closed — before Shifflette had made a decision and tweeted it on her own account.